Breakthrough could herald end of diabetic’s jab | the Daily Mail
A vaccine against a common form of diabetes – which affects a million people in Britain – could be on the way after a scientific breakthrough. Researchers have identified the cause of type-1 or juvenile diabetes, which usually develops in childhood and occurs because insulin-producing cells have been damaged. There is no cure and victims who do not control their blood sugar levels with daily insulin injections can suffer blindness, limb loss and early death.
Now British-born scientist Susan Wong and colleagues at America’s Yale University School of Medicine have discovered how cells from the immune system damage and attack the insulin-producing cells. This raises the hope of a treatment which will remove the need for insulin injections.
The findings have been hailed as ‘amazing and exciting’ by Dr Mark Peakman, of King’s College Hospital, London, who is working on a similiar project. He said: ‘If you know what the targets are, there is a possibility of developing a way of blocking the attack.’
